Ego Psychology and Crisis Theory

Excerpts from the Paper

The beginning:

Ego Psychology and Crisis Theory
Introduction
Tara has fallen through the cracks. In terms of both ego psychology and crisis theory, Tara is caught in-between two states of being, and her problems result from her being trapped in an interstitial psychic state. The good news is that, with the right interventions, Tara clearly has the strengths to address her two problems.
Ego Psychology
The ego is a construct in Freud’s psychodynamic theory. The aspect of ego psychology that applies to Tara has to do with reality testing, which Berzoff, Flanagan, and Hertz (2008) define as “an individual’s capacity to distinguish between her own wishes or fears (internal reality) and events that occur in the real world (external reality)” (p. 66). Tara’s...

The end:

.....great bravery and initiative in going back to school. She is surrounded by a solid support structure. All the tools are in place for assisting Tara to leave behind the spoiled reality-testing mechanism she absorbed from her father, and for walking her from Stage VI to Stage VII in Erikson’s version of crisis theory.
References
Berzoff, J., Flanagan, L.M., & Hertz, P. (2008). Inside out and outside in. Philadelphia:
Rowman & Littlefield
Blanck, G. (1986). Beyond ego psychology: developmental object relations theory. New
York: Columbia University Press
Greene, R. (2008). Human behavior theory & social work practice. Piscataway, NJ:
Aldine Transaction
Meissner, W.M. (1996). The therapeutic alliance. New Haven: Yale University Press